SubCover HQ

Guides / Free tool

COI Compliance Risk Assessment

Free · 12 questions · About 2 minutes · No sign-up

How exposed are you to a sub or vendor working without the insurance you require? Answer 12 quick questions about how your team handles certificates of insurance and get a score out of 100, plus the specific fixes that would lower your risk the most.

1.Do you have written insurance requirements (coverages, limits, endorsements) in every subcontract or vendor agreement?
2.Is a current certificate on file before every sub or vendor starts work?
3.Do you request certificates from the insurance agent or broker rather than accepting a copy from the sub?
4.Does someone check every limit on each certificate against your requirements?
5.Do you verify additional insured status with the actual endorsement, not just the checkbox?
6.Do you check waiver of subrogation and primary and noncontributory wording when your contract requires them?
7.Is your exact legal name (and the owner's, where required) shown correctly as certificate holder and additional insured?
8.Do you collect workers' comp proof (or a valid exemption) from every sub, including small and 1099 crews?
9.Is every policy expiration date tracked separately in one place?
10.Do renewal requests go out before policies expire, with follow-ups until a new certificate arrives?
11.Is one named person responsible for COI tracking, with a backup when they're out?
12.Can you pull any sub's current and past certificates within a couple of minutes if there's a claim or audit?

Weights reflect our view of what matters most, not an industry standard. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent to us.

Why process matters more than any one certificate

Most coverage gaps don't come from a single bad certificate. They come from a sub who started before the COI arrived, a workers' comp policy that renewed on a different date than general liability, or an additional insured checkbox nobody backed up with an endorsement. A consistent process catches those before they matter.

Want to check a specific certificate? Use the free COI compliance checker or the printable COI checklist.

Common questions

What does the COI risk assessment measure?

How consistently your team collects, reviews, and tracks certificates of insurance from subcontractors and vendors, across 12 practices: written requirements, collecting before work starts, checking limits and endorsements, workers' comp proof, expiration tracking, renewal follow-up, ownership, and record keeping.

How is the score calculated?

Each practice has a weight. "Yes, always" earns the full weight, "Sometimes" earns half, and "No / not sure" earns nothing. The score is the share of points earned out of 100. Unanswered questions count as gaps.

Is a high score a guarantee I'm covered?

No. It's a self-check of your process, not a review of your actual certificates or policies, and it isn't insurance or legal advice. Your broker and attorney should set your requirements.

What's the fastest way to raise my score?

Start with the top fixes the tool lists, since they're sorted by impact. If the gaps are mostly about follow-through (renewals, chasing, tracking dates), a done-for-you service like SubCover HQ closes them for a flat $99/month.

General information, not insurance or legal advice.

Done chasing certificates?

SubCover HQ collects, checks, and tracks your subs' and vendors' COIs for a flat $99/month. Cancel anytime.

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